


Coming Home

by joufancyhuh



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cigarettes, Explicit Language, M/M, Mindoir, Month of Fanfiction, Set After Alchera, angst/no comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 16:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11787183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joufancyhuh/pseuds/joufancyhuh
Summary: Reese takes Mark home.





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Month of Fanfiction  
> Day 12: Major Character Death
> 
> The full universe has been scrapped but feel free to enjoy this bit from it in the meantime.

Reese Graham stared at the clouds rolling over the hills, the hair on his arm tingling. His father called it his “storm sense”, back before his biotic powers were realized.Reese zipped up his jacket, digging his chin into the collar. Around him, mourners and tourists milled about the monument, flowers and wreaths in their hands.

Reese gripped the bouquet of sunflowers in his hand tighter. He looked no different than the rest of them, bleary-eyed and sullen as feet shuffled along the ground. Reese stood back, waiting for his turn to go up when the crowd thinned out. 

As the first clash of thunder sounded, heads raised and families started to scamper back to their vehicles.

“I didn’t want to come back here, y’know?” A familiar voice rang out from behind him. Reese spun around to see his commanding officer with a scowl on his face. Mark stood nearby with a cigarette hanging from his lips, glaring at the Mindoir monument and the people around it. The smoke from his cigarette lazily floated over his face, a fog-like wall between him and the rest of the world. 

Reese stumbled back a step, unprepared for the sight of him. “I’m sorry. I just...I thought…”

“Spit it out,” Mark sniped, snuffing out the filter on the heel of his right cowboy boot and flicking it into the grass.

Reese looked to where the the monument emptied out, the first droplets of rain falling onto his head. Thunder boomed overhead as the clouds burst open, raining soaking every inch of him in a matter of seconds. Reese peered at Mark through his damp eyelashes.

Mark’s dark shirt plastered to him, something similar to what he wore when they first met, rain dripping off the bridge of his nose as he scowled at the younger man. “Fuckin’ say something.”

“Home,” Reese blubbered. “I wanted to bring you home.”

Some of the onlookers rushed by with the programs over their heads like it did some good. One slowed to ogle at Reese, who made no motion to get out of the downpour.

“This ain’t my home,” Mark scoffed. “Hasn’t been for years.”

Reese’s hand dug down into his pocket, the cool feel of metal against his fingertips. “You belong with your family.”

Mark stilled, enough for Reese to regain his sense of purpose for being there.

Reese marched forward, up to where he knew the names of his family resided. He picked out five sunflowers from his bouquet, laying them across the ground. His fingers traced the name of each member of his family.

_Jax._

_Indigo._

_Beatrix._

_Calico._

Reese traced the other name that should’ve been there, Billy’s, overtop of his own. He pressed his lips to the cold stone before bowing his head. “Sorry guys, but you have to share from now on. I know you won’t mind.”

A hand gripped his neck, rough and calloused like his father’s, before disappearing.

Reese stood and searched settlement names, scouring each in the hopes of finding _Dion_. Mark hung back, arms crossed, as his eyes stayed pinned to Reese.

Reese frowned. “You could help, you know.”

Mark continued to lag behind, electing to remain silent.

Reese sighed with defeat as he proceeded forward. He found Dion in the far corner from his own family. The rain blurred his vision, making it hard to distinguish the names from one another. Dion was much larger than Franche-Comté.

He found one halfway down the stone. Singular, but Reese couldn’t mistake that last name anywhere.

 _Shepard,_ _Kaidan._

Reese glanced behind him to where Mark hovered, jaw clenched and back rigid as he stared where Reese’s finger pointed. “This is him, isn’t it?”

Mark turned his face away, the scowl on his face deepening. “Leave it alone.”

“He’s family.”

“I said fuckin’ leave it!” Mark slammed his fist sideways into the monument, a sharp thud punctuating his outburst. 

Reese ignored him, tracing the name before plucking another sunflower out of his bouquet to leave behind.

Mark refused to look him in the eyes, but as Reese moved forward in his search, Mark lingered behind, hands trembling as he brushed his knuckles against the stone. Reese pretended to ignore the gesture. 

Reese found what he sought one stone over, a grouping of S names toward the top. There was no mistaking that first name on the list.

 _Markus_.

Reese repeated his ritual, the one he did with every name before it, finger set in the engraving.

_Hannah._

_Kipling._

_Johnathan._

And next to it, Reese grasped onto the stone with shaking hands. _Survived in hope by their eldest, Mark Andrew._

Reese leaned his forehead against the monument as he dug the dog tags out of his pocket, turning them over in his hands.

_4130-TC-2826_

_LTCMD Shepard, Mark Andrew_

_DOB: 2152, Apr11 N7_

Reese’s body shuddered as the first sob escaped his throat. He pushed his torso against the wall to hold him upright as his knees weakened beneath him. Hot tears poured down his cheeks, mixing with the cool of the rain. He gripped the tags so tight that the words leave indents into his palm.

“So I’m really fuckin’ dead then, huh?” Mark sat with his back below Reese, trying to light up another cigarette in the rain and failing. “Think they’ll strike off that “survived in hope” shit?”

Reese slid to the ground beside Mark, burying his head into his knees. “It’s not fair,” he cried.

Mark shook his head, water droplets flying off the ends of strands of hair. “Life ain’t fair, cupcake.”

“How am I supposed to go on? The Alliance wants to act like Sovereign never happened. Everything you worked for, those bastards left us with nothing.” Reese clenched his fists. “I’m lost without you, Mark.”

“Keep fighting.” Mark stood up and brushed off the back of his pants before holding a hand out to Reese. “You never needed my help before.”

Reese raised his head up to peer at Mark. “You were my _best_ friend. I can’t just forget that.”

“Then don’t. Use it. The Reapers still need defeating… I can’t think of anyone better suited to lead a team.” Mark paused, blue eyes rolling over Reese's face.  “Get up. You look fuckin’ ridiculous, LT.”

When Reese didn’t budge, Mark tried again. “You’re sitting in a testament of your strength. You got through this. You got through losing _everyone_ you knew. I’m just one person.”

Reese closed his eyes, holding his head up to the sky as the rain continued to pour. Behind Mark, Reese spotted his mother and father watching him, his father’s hand gripping his mother’s shoulder. They smiled and nodded. Trix and Cal ran up beside them, laughing and tormenting Billy, who playfully nipped at their heels. Cal shrieked with laughter as their father scooped her into his arms.

Reese took hold of Mark’s outstretched hand and climbed to his feet. Mark grinned and patted his back. “There ya go.”

Reese smiled at him, soft and sad, as he stroked a finger down Mark’s cheek. “I wish we got the chance for this to have been more. I kinda liked you.”

Mark grabbed the sides of Reese’s face and drew him in for a deep kiss, one that left Reese feeling breathless.

When he opened his eyes from it, he was alone.

Reese turned back to where the Shepard family names shone from the stone, once more glancing down to the dog tags in his hand. He kissed the silver of them before looping them around the monument. The rest of the sunflowers laid out on the ground, one for each of them plus one for Mark.

“Rest easy, Shepards. Your son has finally returned home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Reese belongs to me, Mark belongs to [potionsmaster](http://archiveofourown.org/users/potionsmaster/works)
> 
> Set after Alchera so this is not the end.


End file.
